Rockezine.com interview with Jailbird on Sep 28, 2002

with Franck Ackermann on Sep 28, 2002

Sometimes an album seems to come out of nowhere. A Canadian record label (Geska) sent us a copy of the CD of JAILBIRD. A surprisingly good album if you like industrial rock with some Young Gods influences. Although JAILBIRD is busy with their second album (Cerebral Distortion) and planning a tour to promote that one (in the spring of 2003), Franck Ackermann found some time to answer the following questions…
		The first thing I did when I heard …Inside Nonsense was looking if there was a Young Gods connection… Does this band inspire you or do you hear this for the first time? JAILBIRD is inspired by a lot of things: fashion, literature, cinema, TV, publicity... We are always influenced by something. This said, it is true that la bande à Franz Treichler et Al Comet is an enormous influence on the composition structure level of groups seeking coherence between the "astral" feeling, and destructuration itself. Many other influences also come together to inspire, such as NIN, or Pink Floyd to name a couple.
		Can you tell us something more about your history? I noticed that …Inside Nonsense is your first CD and that you are busy with a second album (Cerebral Distortion)… A French label was supposed to take us under its wing in 1998. Appointments, meetings, negotiations, led us to a studio recording of our 11 album titles in August 1998. During this recording, we learned that the label (Thunder Prod) was closing its doors, and we had to finance the recording session ourselves ... a thing which was not even conceivable at that time. Suddenly we found ourselves with a Master ... not really knowing what to do with it. Having spent all of our money in this studio, none was left for the duplication/pressing or to take care of the release and the promotion. Then Erwin had the accident and I dropped the idea. Then, a completely unexpected event came along: a new label named GESKA Records (from Québec, Canada) wanted to release our album ... and did so! I must say, GESKA is much more than an ordinary label, it is also a kind of moral support ... something pretty rare in this world! So, Inside Nonsense is, in spite of what anyone can say, a cold album. Cold in the choice of sonorities, the entire ambience in general. Something we were looking for…. a certain desire to accomplish this atmosphere in a sense. Whereas Cerebral Distortion is a much more open, introverted, and extremely posed album, it is at the same time much more violent. I feel that the new album is composed around the same type of impulse that leads the serial killer to murder. A subtle mixture between softness and brutality, love and hatred, toute en nuance. The album will release and share its emotions, and will probably touch the public a fleur de peau… if I may use this analogy. The listener will experience a sonic adventure well beyond what is conceivable today. And I can already announce that there will be a conceptual piece which has never yet been composed. A true revolution.
		Both names end in Ackermann, are you family? Do you have the ‘typical’ family quarrels like the brothers from Oasis and the Black Crowes? First, thank you for the reference to BLACK CROWES, which is one of our true loves. ACKERMANN is a family story. In the beginning, only two brothers… but over the years a lot of people got involved with our project. We can say today that our family stands out because of all the artists it contains and who are working hand in hand: photographers, musicians, graphic designers... no quarrels!
		You’ve got some impressive lyrics (about deep – most dark – feelings, against computerizing, etc.). Can you tell us more about them? The lyrics are not really cohesive with one another. But with this cold environment produced by mechanical sounds, the texts seem cold, melancholic and dark. Be careful though, nothing depressive, or suicidal. Just a statement: an invitation to dream, rather than to submit to this miserable world. This is the eternal battle between Man and Machine, the impulse of the violent love for liberating oneself … and the single desire to fly away towards new horizons, towards a better world... No, the particular message is in fact, juste des constats ... et du rêve!
		You sing in English and French, why this choice? I do not really know. It was becoming too difficult to come up with titles in Burmese (ha, ha, ha...)... At that time (1998), German was becoming very à la mode thanks to that newcomer from Berlin ... we simply decided to go the other way…to avoid the easy reference! I think that we made a good decision since French expresses a certain melancholy, and English promotes fluidity of ideas and softness. Living in Europe. It all came very naturally.
		JAILBIRD toured with a lot of bands, like Das Ich, Godflesh, Collapse and Out. Which band made the biggest impression on you? The more one is renowned, or gets a certain notoriety, the more one turns into an idiot. With the exception of DAS ICH, with whom we became friends, all the other groups have this bigheaded ego attitude. To put it simply: real jerks in most cases.
		Your new album is scheduled for spring 2003, can you tell us something more about what we can expect? Is it in the same direction as …Inside Nonsense? Not at all. It will be so different. Regarding the new album, anyone will be able to recognize the special sound and the original voice of JAILBIRD. But expect something new in regards to soundscapes, feelings, nuances, and the destructured compositions... that is our trademark!
We are simply a bunch of very courageous (crazy?) guys ready to take huge risks to make it happen...		Can you tell us more about the big tour you’re preparing for the promotion of the second album? Which countries will you visit? Regarding the tour that should follow the release of Cerebral Distortion, I think that it’s still a little too early to get into details now, as we are currently setting up the schedule with our producer and his team. We are simply a bunch of very courageous (crazy?) guys ready to take huge risks to make it happen... for all of us. More to come in 2003 anyway! You will be notified.
		Something you have never been asked, but always wanted to say… Would you kindly buy our album? At least, we will be able to say that we made our second sale ... ha, ha, ha...
And if you want to buy that record you have to know that… JAILBIRD`S ALBUM INSIDE NONSENSE AVAILABLE AT: http://www.geska-records.com/store/cart.php?cat=MUSIC. More news at www.jailbird.free.fr. (Beautevil )